This casual Italian dining favorite is located on Allen Ave. in Portland (ME), just north of Forest Ave. Owner Bob Napolitano and his kitchen wizards create delectible Italian dining masterpieces in a casual, comfortable setting.

In addition to the main dining room, there’s a cozy tavern, and a game room with a mammoth flatscreen TV — the 2nd largest in Portland!

Bob and Dan wanted Brunos extensive Italian food menu displayed on the website, as well as downloadable as pdf. No problem!

Bruno’s recently opened a roomy new Ocean Star banquet room, equipped with a full bar, state-of-the-art audio-visual and tele-conferencing facilities, plenty of free parking — even a dance floor and fireplace!

General Manager Dan Napolitano pointed out it’s perfect for your next birthday party, family reunion, business meeting, rehearsal dinner, wedding reception, engagement party or retirement dinner. Take a look next time you’re here — if you can tear yourself away from the tasty calzones, pizza (with homemade dough made fresh daily) or other seafood and Italian delights.

Bruno’s is open Mon-Thurs 11:30 am – 9:30 pm, Fri-Sat 11:30 am – 10:30 pm. Tavern hours are Mon-Sat 11:30 am – 1:00 am. Closed Sundays.

You really must check it out again. See what these happy diners said. If you haven’t been to Bruno’s lately, or (God forbid) you’ve never been, you’ll be glad you did.

Owners Rob Pinkham and Aldo Vallecillo contacted me to redesign their old website, which was cumbersome, hard to read, and impossible for them to update themselves.

After several discussions, they opted to have Maine Creative Services totally re-design and rebuild their site from the ground up. The emphasis was on maintaining their branding and existing color scheme, ease of DIY updates, and a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere — just like Roost itself.

As Rob put it, the entire website makeover was done quickly, painlessly.

“We’re very, very happy with our new website that  Tom designed and built for us. It is especially significant that he guided us to a website format where we can  update menus and photos ourselves quickly and easily, without having to wait for someone else’s schedule or incurring additional costs.

“On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d say I am a 5. I was impressed with Tom’s very reasonable fee, prompt return of emails, and his willingness to do more than proposed. He is eager to make sure every customer is satisfied. That’s why I’ve already recommended him to others. Come to think of it, one of Tom’s previous clients  recommended him to us!”

About Roost Cafe & Bistro

Rob and Aldo bring an eclectic flair to regional cuisine, hand-crafting exquisite yet affordable breakfasts, lunches, dinners, entrees and appetizers. They also do something I wish more restaurants did — let diners sample multiple items instead of a single entree.

PS: Check out Throwback Thursdays and their gluten-free menu and products, too.

-Tom

II. Thou shalt honor thy customers worries and problems, for that is what keepeth them awake at night.

III. Thou shalt focus thy copy on the customer, not thyself. Show them how you can help them end their wailing and gnashing of teeth, and thou willst be an answer to their prayers.

IV. Thou shalt not glorify thyself by making empty promises thou cannot keep. Indeed, thou shall back up thy promises with proof: case studies, testimonials, etc., of how how thou hast helped others like them in the past. In other words, thou shall put up or shut up.

V. Thou shalt not bore thy visitors, who art afflicted with a short attention span. Thou shalt trim the fat.

VI. Thou shalt ask for thy visitors’ e-mail addresses and permission to follow up in the future. But thou shalt not browbeat them with over-aggressive or over-frequent missives.

VII. Thou shalt offer value in exchange for their e-mail addresses. This may taketh on many forms, including expert guidance within thy field of endeavor. (Stone tablets optional.)

VIII. Thou shalt optimize thy website for the great god Google, lest thy website be cast into the wilderness and ignored by those searching for thy goods and services. Ditto for the lesser deities, Bing and Yahoo. Yea verily, these are false gods, but hey, business is business.

IX. Thou shalt optimize the layout of thy copy to pleaseth the eye of thy reader. This meaneth headings and subheads, wide margins, white space and bullet lists. Banish thy clutter to the dark, unspeakable places.

X. Thou shalt not bully, browbeat, or hard-sell thy beloved customer. Rather, thou shalt partner with them, embrace their problems as thine own, and help them achieve their goals.

A North Carolina restaurant has done just that — literally. They’ve banned crying kids. Ditto whining, screaming or hysterical tykes. Check out the sign on the front door.

The restaurant owner — a woman, by the way — says she got sick of customers complaining about parents who can’t or won’t control their kids during meals, treat the restaurant like a playground, generally misbehave or act like a nuisance.

They’re not being jerks about it, apparently. If a kid starts screaming, an employee will ask the parent to quiet them down or take them outside.

Talk about differentiating yourself from the competition!

Has it cost them customers?

Sure, but the owner says it’s brought in more business than it’s driven away.

via the Consumerist